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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Snippet: Round table on IP Protection for Pharmaceuticals in India at NLU Jodhpur

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) IP Chair of National Law University, is organizing a round table symposium on 17th and 18th March, 2012 on the topic ‘The Emerging Legal and Policy Landscape of Intellectual Property Protection for Pharmaceuticals in India’. The link to the event is available here.

According to the website of NLU Jodhpur:

“The event is expected to bring academicians, legal experts and policy specialists from across India working on IP law and pharmaceutical policy issues. The aim of the roundtable symposium is to generate a nuanced dialogue on many critical issues concerning intellectual property protection for pharmaceutical inventions in India in the light of the emerging scenario in the Post- TRIPS world.

Fifteen years have passed by since India adhered to certain internationally binding IP obligations through the WTO-TRIPS agreement. And yet, India is still garnering worldwide interest concerning the level of protection provided by its IP laws. The administrative and the judicial thought process on how best to balance competing interests cannot be divorced from this context.

Indeed, much of IP law in its application to the pharmaceutical sector cannot be looked in isolation from the intricate policy issues and general societal interest. While a lot of attention is focused on the pros and cons of IP regimes, there remains an enormous task of calibrating the IP regimes that could best serve the needs of balancing competing interests. The symposium will provide a good forum to exchange valuable information, ideas and experiences in articulating legal and policy issues on IP protection for pharmaceutical inventions in India.”

Some of the speakers who will attend the symposium are:

1. Hon’ble Justice S.Ravindra Bhat of the High Court of Delhi,

2. Mr.Dilip Shah, Secretary General of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance,

3. Dr.Malathi Lakshmikumaran from the law firm Lakshmikumaran and Sreedharan,

4. Prof.Madhukar Sinha from Centre of WTO Studies of IIFT,

5. Prof. Sudeep Chaudhuri of IIM Calcutta,

6. Mr.Anand Grover, Advocate from the Supreme Court of India,

7. Mr.K.M.Gopakumar, Legal Advisor to Third World Network

8. Prof.Shamnad Basheer of NUJS Kolkata

9. J.Sai Deepak (me), Saikrishna & Associates

I will write a post next week on the deliberations at the round table. It'll be interesting to analyse the tone and tenor of the discussions in light of the recent compulsory licensing order.